I love a good dive bar. I grew up in a small town going to the bar with my dad on Friday nights. All of his friends with kids my age would get together at the bar on Main Street. They’d drink some Old Style’s and Strohs’ while the kids would play shuffle board, pool, darts, and get pop from the bar fountain dispenser that looks like some kind of toy gun.
When I moved away from my hometown, I started leaning more towards sports bars. The food was more important than the atmosphere because I didn’t have a group of friends like my dad does. I didn’t care to hang out with many people and the ones I did hang out with were all city dwellers and not used to the dank and darkness of a good dive.
I’m still kind of that guy. I don’t have a group of friends I hang out with and I still prefer to go places with good food.
There are some really great dive bars in Kalamazoo though and some that have some really good food. Over the last couple of years, I’ve blogged about CJ’s Pub, The Sugar Bowl, Waldo’s Campus Tavern, and Nob Hill to name a few. All which had that laid back atmosphere with a group of regulars but also had some pretty tasty food.
There was still one more place I’ve really wanted to get to over the last 15 years. It has the best name. I knew they had food but I didn’t really know what. The Facebook page was sporadic and there wasn’t really a good menu I could find online.
Then Mlive did a story on it a few weeks ago. The food looked good in the pictures so I decided I needed to give it a try.
The Duck Inn-Waddle Out (great name, BTW) is on Brookfield Avenue at Olmstead Road kind of across the street from the Kalamazoo County Expo Center in Kalamazoo Township. The small, metal building doesn’t really look like a bar. There are no window, the metal siding is pretty beat up and dirty, and the entry door looks like it was put there as an afterthought. There’s an old Metro bus stop shed right outside the door so people have a place to smoke and get out of the elements.
The bar isn’t really big. There is one row of tables squeezed between the wood paneled walls and the bar, the flooring is mismatched tile and carpet, and the decor is beer signs. There are dart boards on one wall and there’s a space for live music on the far end.
The ceiling tiles caught my eye right away. They’re just simple drop ceiling panels but they have advertisements for local businesses…most of which are no longer in business.
Any good dive bar has pool tables. Duck Inn-Waddle Out of course has a couple.
I took a seat at the bar when I stopped in for dinner on Wednesday evening. The rest of my family was in Ann Arbor. L had skating lessons Wednesday and Thursday and it was cheaper for them to spend their Spring Break at a cheap hotel in Ann Arbor than drive back and forth.
The bar isn’t very big either. It wraps around the corner giving it a few more seats. The open spot was right as I walked in the door. There were some plaques on the bar in front of those seats. I was a little nervous those were reserved for regulars and I shouldn’t sit there so I asked. The bartender acted like she was surprised I even asked and told me to take a seat.
I typically just order Budweiser’s at dive bars but they had an Oberon tap. This was still the first week of Oberon and I hadn’t had one yet so that’s what I ordered. When I finished that one, I ordered another….. because it was Oberon Week.
When I got my beer, I asked about the kitchen. The bartender pointed me to a chalkboard sign behind me near the pool tables. That’s where the menu was listed.
I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, and mustard. This sandwiches come with chips but I upgraded to the fries.
It took 10-15 minutes for my food to come out. I wasn’t even paying attention when a different bar tender set the tray down in front of me then grabbed a bottle of ketchup and some napkins. I was kind of zoning out just drinking my beer.
I started with the fries, like I usually do. They were standard frozen restaurant style fries. I grabbed the salt shaker to give the fries a little bit of flavor. I’m not a ketchup person but these would have been fantastic with some mustard. They’re those kind of cheap fries.
I always love burger from places like this. The flat top they’re cooked on always has so much flavor. The lounge has been open since the early 70’s and that flavor has just built up over the years. The burger is a pretty loosely packed patty topped with melted cheese and really crispy bacon. I added on lettuce, pickles, and mustard for an extra crunch and zing. The bread is pretty simple white bun that has been toasted. It’s a pretty simple burger but a really tasty one. When I think of cheap pub burgers, this is what I like to imagine.
My cost for two beers and a burger and fries was just over $24. They have an ATM at the entrance but they also take credit cards.
Duck Inn-Waddle Out Lounge was exactly what I was hoping it would be when I walked in. There was a lot of loud, friendly conversations, cold beer, sassy bartenders, and delicious food.